The manufacturing additive process for laser sintering consists of depositing successive layers of sintering powders so as to compose complex geometric shapes. Several manufacturing production sectors, such as the automotive and aerospace sectors, are considering these processes for manufacturing large complex metal or metal alloy objects. The accretion techniques currently employed are limited in the increase of size of the objects to be produced. The technologies currently used are of two types:                additive manufacturing based on powder bed technology        additive manufacturing by metal deposition        
In powder bed technology, the process occurs in a chamber emptied and filled by inert gas. A powder bed is formed with a laminar flow. A laser scanner connected to a single mode laser source, and with a constant size of the laser spot, directs the focused radiation towards the powder bed thus performing the sintering. The powder bed simultaneously provides the sintering material and acts as a support for constructing the piece. The drawback of this technology is that it is limited in implementations of large-sized chambers (with dimensions greater than 250×250×250 mm): the process in such conditions would be inconvenient due to the inefficiency in using the powders and deformations would occur in the sintering with respect to the required geometry.
The technology for metal deposition is an evolution of that used for metallic coating, or cladding. A nozzle for cladding aligned to the beam of a machine for laser processing provides the jet of metal powder required for sintering. Although this technology allows the manufacture of large parts, it is limited in the precision of the process and in the low productivity due to the slowness of the movement axes of the support machine.